Celine Dion became emotional as he revealed that he had been secretly struggling with the Stiff-Person syndrome (Stiff Man Syndrome) for 17 years, before she decided to tell her fans. She stated that lying to her audience was too much for her to bear.

The 56-year-old singer revealed she was diagnosed with the rare autoimmune neurological disorder in 2022, but revealed she battled the horrific condition in secret for almost two decades before telling the world about it. Dion detailed the pain she felt as she was forced to withhold the truth from her fans.

The artist reported feeling like she had to hide and act like a “heroine,” while secretly realizing her body was giving up on her. In a teaser for her upcoming NBC interview, Celine Dion explained that when she started to realize something was wrong, she didn’t take the time to go to doctors and get the necessary tests.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Prime Video (@primevideo)

She recalled fighting her own battle with Stiff-Person Syndrome while her husband, René Angélil, was battling cancer. Her husband passed away in 2016.

“I had to raise my children, I had to hide, I had to try to be a heroine. I was holding on to my own dreams”he emphasized and added: “The lie for me was… The burden was too great. Lying to the people who got me to where I am today, I couldn’t do it anymore.”